Ji Qilin
# Ji Qilin

Ji Qilin (born 27 May 1947) is a Chinese actor.

## Biography

Ji Qilin was born in 1947 to two deployed soldiers on their way south during the Chinese Civil War. Because of the war, he grew up in his grandmother's house in Liaocheng, Shandong until the age of 5, when he and his grandmother joined his parents in Beijing. When he was 11, he was admitted to Beijing Chinese Opera School (北京戏曲学校). Two years later, his parents were relocated to Guangzhou, leaving Ji Qilin by himself in Beijing. At school, he trained to become a Peking opera wusheng performer under Hou Hailin (侯海林), a disciple of Yang Xiaolou. In 1963, after eight years of dedicated practice, Ji Qilin received a perfect score for his graduation performance, the first in school history.

Instead of becoming a star performer as everyone had predicted, Ji Qilin saw his dream dashed with the advent of the Cultural Revolution, which banned all traditional Chinese operas. In 1968, Ji Qilin was "sent down" to work in a salt mine in Tianjin. After an attempt to star in revolutionary operas proved unsuccessful, he decided to become a modern dancer. At that time, his newlywed wife Zhang Bailing (张百灵) was working as a stage actress for the Kunming Military Region (昆明军区) in Kunming, and Ji Qilin managed to join the army in Kunming to be with her. He was already 23 with no background in dancing. In order to take on non-extra roles, Ji Qilin had to work much harder than everyone else: he woke up one hour earlier and practiced until late in the evening. His dedication paid off: he was given main roles in the ballet Red Detachment of Women.

Just then the Cultural Revolution ended, and in 1978, Ji Qilin made another career change: he returned to Beijing to enroll in the China National Opera & Drama Dance Theatre so that he could star in dance dramas (舞剧), which sought to combine traditional art forms with western-imported modern dance. Again, Ji Qilin worked extremely hard and came to be recognized as one of the best dancers in China. However, by his late 30s he was increasingly battling back injuries. At that time, his young son Ji Chenmu acted in some films. Encouraged by Zhang Bailing, Ji Chenmu changed his career yet again: he followed his son and became a film and television actor.

## Filmography

### Film

| Year | English title | Original title | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1982 | Sword | 劍 | Prince | Musical film |
| 1983 | The Legend of Sculptor Chang | 泥人常傳奇 | Qianlong Emperor | |
| 1985 | Kung Fu Hero Wang Wu | 大刀王五 | Tan Sitong | |
| 1986 | The White Dragon Sword | 白龍劍 | Du Baojie | |
| 1987 | Woman Demon Human | 人鬼情 | Teacher Zhang | |
| 1988 | Zhu De and Fan Shisheng | 相遇貴相知 | Fan Shisheng | TV film |
| 1993 | The Sword of Many Loves | 飛狐外傳 | Fuk'anggan | |
| 1993 | Kung Fu Cult Master | 倚天屠龍記之魔教教主 | Zhu Yuanzhang | |
| 2009 | The Price | 买单 | Zhou Houde | |
| 2010 | Shining Life | 闪亮的青春 | Shi Jianguo | |
| 2010 | The Dream of Mr. Lee | 小人物狂想曲 | Mr. Bai | |
| 2011 | Golden Chili Pepper | 金椒 | Zhao Qinian | |
| 2013 | Clock of God | 天钟 | Xia Xin | |

### TV and film series

| Year | English title | Original title | Role |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1985 | Master Haideng | 海燈法師 | Hu Chun |
| 1985 | Yue Fei | 岳飛 | Yue Fei |
| 1988 | A Dream of Red Mansions | 紅樓夢 | Jia Lian |
| 1990 | The Story of the Great Wall | 长城故事 | Qin Shi Huang |
| 1991 | Sombre Night | 夜深沉 | Adjutant Li |
| 1992 | Revolution in 1911 | 辛亥首義 | Sun Yat-sen |
| 1994 | Big Boss Cheng Changgeng | 大老板程長庚 | Cheng Changgeng |
| 1994 | Mei Lanfang | 梅兰芳 | Feng Gengguang |
| 1995 | This Life of Ours | 今生今世 | Ma Songnian |
| 1996 | Shanghai Tango | 上海探戈 | He's father |
| 1996 | New Dragon Gate Inn | 新龍門客棧 | Dorgon |
| 1997 | Swallow Li San | 燕子李三 | Li Xian |
| 1999 | Red Crag | 紅岩 | Liu Erge |
| 2000 | Bleeding Love and Revenge | 碧血情仇 | |
| 2000 | The Great Emperor Guangwu | 光武大帝 | Cen Peng |
| 2002 | Ode to Gallantry | 俠客行 | Shi Qing |
| 2003 | The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber | 倚天屠龍記 | Yin Tianzheng |
| 2003 | Lady Wu: The First Empress | 至尊紅顏 | Li Yuanji |
| 2003 | Bandits of Guanzhong | 關中匪事 | Xu Yunqing |
| 2003 | Birthday Celebration by Five Daughters | 新五女拜壽 | Liang Chaochen |
| 2004 | Genius Physician | 神醫俠侶 | Liu Yuan |
| 2004 | So It Is You | 原來就是你 | Du Zhen |
| 2004 | Wudang | 武當 | Qiu Chuji |
| 2004 | Miracle | 奇迹 | Zhang Jie |
| 2005 | Strange Tales of Liao Zhai | 聊齋志異 | Wang Pupin |
| 2005 | Wind and Cloud 2 | 風雲2 | Qin Shi Huang |
| 2005 | Happy 7 Fairies | 歡天喜地七仙女 | Bare-foot Immortal |
| 2007 | Sword Stained with Royal Blood | 碧血劍 | Taoist Musang |
| 2007 | The Gold Convoyers | 鏢行天下 | Shen Rong |
| 2007 | Special Mission 2 | 特殊使命2：亂世女兒紅 | |
| 2007 | Roaming the World with a Sword | 劍行天下 | Yang Tianpeng |
| 2008 | Tiger Mountain | 虎山行 | Li Qingtian |
| 2008 | Taiwan 1895 | 台灣·一八九五 | Prince Gong |
| 2008 | The Legend of the Condor Heroes | 射鵰英雄傳 | Wang Chongyang |
| 2009 | Look at Flower in Fog | 雾里看花 | Mr. Ge |
| 2009 | A Beautiful Daughter-in-law Era | 媳妇的美好时代 | Yu Hongshui |
| 2011 | We Are Family | 我们是一家人 | Zhao Pengfei |
| 2011 | Get Married at 30 | 三十而嫁 | Yu Yuanzhi |
| 2012 | Mother-in-Law's Happy Life | 岳母的幸福生活 | Zhao Baofu |
| 2012 | Secret Battle in Emei | 密戰峨嵋 | Dong Ji |
| 2013 | When Tianzhen Meets Xianshi | 天真遇到现实 | Yang Tianzhen's father |
| 2013 | The Third Kind of Happiness | 第三种幸福 | Ren Huanting |
| 2015 | Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon | 风花雪月 | |
| 2015 | Happiness Returns | 幸福归来 | |
| 2015 | Mum Go Go Go | 妈妈向前冲 | Yin's father |
| 2016 | Not Easy to Raise a Child | 养个孩子不容易 | |
